AUTOFOCUS DEVICE AND METHOD

An autofocus device comprising a lens-driving unit, a focal-point-position-detecting unit that detects a position of a focal point of the lens, a distance measurement sensor that measures a distance to a subject, and a focus-evaluation-value-calculating unit that calculates a focus evaluation value using a frequency component of an image signal in a particular region in an imaging frame. The device also has a user interface and a control unit that controls the lens-driving unit to drive the lens based on the focus evaluation value or the focus evaluation value, the position of a focal point of the lens, and a measured distance result measured by the distance measurement sensor, thereby meeting the position of the focal point to an in-focus position. The control unit controls the lens-driving unit, the distance measurement sensor and the focus-evaluation-value-calculating unit based on the autofocus contents set by the user interface.